The Burden of Kisses
by Billy Bob Grint
Summary: Fifth year Christmas at Grimmauld Place. Ron and Hermione discuss their lives, their fears, their pasts, and eventually realize the burden that comes with kisses. RHr. Please Read and Review!


"How's your dad? Ginny said he's going to be OK after the snake bit him, right?" Hermione Granger looked over apprehensively to her best friend, Ron Weasley, as they sat down in Hermione's room in Twelve, Grimmauld Place. He sat down on Ginny's bed across from where Hermione sat on her own bed, watching for any signs that things were alright.

"We all went to see him the other day. Says he's loads better, but he just might be acting up for us so he won't scare anyone, you know?" Ron said as he got up and locked the door so no one, Kreacher in particular, would come in and interrupt him and hear things they weren't supposed to. He plopped off his shoes and sat back on Ginny's bed, leaning his back against the headboard and stretched his long legs out, crossing them at his ankles and stared back expectantly at Hermione. She watched his movements, and could tell that he was hiding something. Ron wilted under her penetrating gaze and confessed.

"When Mum threw us all out of the hospital room, we all took the Extendable Ears and heard it all, right, like we told you before. It's just, I don't know, it's weird, isn't it? How could he be the snake that bit Dad? I'm a bit scared... of Harry, I think..." Ron finished hesitantly and looked back at Hermione, who frowned back at him.

"He won't hurt you. You know that, Ron," Hermione finished defiantly. Ron nodded, but it didn't help his unsettled nerves.

"I know he wouldn't, but what if You-Know-Who tries to possess him or make him see weird visions like what he saw with Dad? What if... I'm being stupid, sorry. To think, he was worried about a little snog with Cho the other day, too? Makes you wonder sometimes, doesn't it?" Ron chuckled weakly as Hermione titled her head in confusion at him.

"What do you mean? Makes you wonder what, exactly?"

Ron took a deep breath and said, "I mean, we're just fifteen, aren't we? I wouldn't give up Harry for anything in the world – he's the best mate a guy could have – but I just wish that sometimes, we could just be normal teenagers, just be worried about crushes and homework, and not have the loaded burden of trying to save the world. Why does You-Know-Who keep coming after Harry, anyway? He's just a kid, I don't care how famous his folks were or how much they helped the Order back then, what does that all have to do with Harry and why does he have to suffer with that bloody scar on his head and all this constant tension? I doubt any of our classmates are going 'oh bloody hell, I have to save the world from evil Dark Wizards, I don't have time for a date,' but we are. Don't you feel it – feel like your childhood's been taken from you, and not from your best friend, but from this sick bastard who just wants to what? Take over the world? What a load of rubbish!" Ron buried his face in his large hands after his speech, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He mumbled something into his hands, but Hermione could decipher that he said something along the lines of 'it's not fair,' which she did agree on.

"To think, I actually thought you had the emotional range of a teaspoon. You've got a lot going on in there, Ron – I take back what I said." Ron looked up when he felt the weight shift on the other end of Ginny's bed where he sat and saw that Hermione was sitting cross-legged next to his out-stretched legs, smirking back at him. Ron ran his hands through his now shoulder-length ginger locks, rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled weakly back at her.

"I'm a deeper bloke than you thought. Surprised?" Ron chuckled as he made the comment, missing the odd expression that crossed Hermione's face. She shifted so that she was closer to him and sat next to Ron's knees on the side of the bed, still staring back at him shrewdly.

"You seemed awful curious about that snog Harry had with Cho. Can I ask why?" Ron felt his ears turning red and shrugged back at her.

"As best friend it is my obligation to find out how my best friend's first kiss went. I know it's his first because if it wasn't I wouldn't be too happy about him hiding information about previous snogs, thanks." One look at Hermione's skeptical raised eyebrow and Ron continued on.

"Just a thing guys do. I'm sure you girls do it, too. I've seen you and Ginny giggling together around school and last couple of summers when you stayed with us. I'm pretty sure things like how cute boys are or whatever drabble you birds talk about was somewhere in there. Probably seeping through pictures of famous wizards in 'Witch Weekly' or something and giggling like morons. Don't deny it." Ron looked triumphant, thinking his bested Hermione, but never expected her to burst out laughing at him. He frowned.

"I – take – it – back," Hermione gasped between peals of laughter, "You – are – clueless!"

Ron scowled and retorted indignantly, "And what is that supposed to mean!?"

Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself down and stated, "Ginny and I aren't that bad. You must have us confused with Parvati and Lavender or something. I mean sure, we talk about things like boys and such, but we don't devote our lives to it, you know. We don't go, as you put it, 'seeping through pictures of famous wizards in "Witch Weekly",' nor do we giggle like morons. And since is it your obligation to know when and who Harry's snogging, anyway? I'm your best friend too and you don't go asking me all the time, do you?"

"I'd rather not know about whom _YOU_ snog, thanks," Ron snapped abruptly at her.

"I – oh, Ron, that's not what I meant! Well, I am your best friend too, aren't I?" Ron could hear the hurt tone in her voice as he reassured her that she was and she continued.

"Then it would work that since I'm also your best friend you would want to know who I snog by your logic, correct? By this same logic, you should tell me who _YOU'VE_ snogged over the years. It's what best friends do, isn't it, according to you?" Hermione glared back at him. Ron felt as though he was stuck in the middle of a stalemate, and cursed the game of Chess for ever coming to such a conclusion. He looked down at his hands, which he was wringing together nervously on his lap, avoiding Hermione's gaze, and mumbled something under her breath. She hit his knee, hard, and he spoke up louder.

"I said, you don't want to really know. Can we not talk about this?" Ron knew it was futile, he started this and he was just going to have to bury himself along with her.

"No. You brought this up, so now you're going to tell me. It sounds really fascinating if I don't really want to know. You must tell me, please!" Hermione shook his leg with her hand, which jolted him back to conscious realm, feeling his ears turning even redder than before as he saw that her hand was on his thigh. She noticed his focus and looked down herself, pulling her hand back off his leg and blushing profusely at the implication of the touch.

"Well, since you're just dying to know, I'll tell you. I've only had one kiss, and I was, what, seven at the time? Guess I should explain. Ginny loved having loads of big brothers to play with and get in trouble, but sometimes she just wanted a girl to hang out with, right? There were a couple of wizarding families living in the nearby village, if you remember from the Quidditch World Cup last year? When we set off for the Portkey that morning we met up with one of them, the Diggorys. There was supposed to be another family coming with us, but Mr. Diggory said they set off earlier than us." Ron's voice got slightly fainter as he looked at Hermione, who he knew was remembering that day and what Amos Diggory had said. He saw at once, a few moments later, that Hermione had figured it out as her eyes widened and she stared back at Ron in shock.

"Luna? You kissed Luna Lovegood?!" Hermione looked scandalized, which Ron couldn't help but to find somewhat amusing, but before he could even think of laughing, she glared daggers at him.

"Luna kissed me, correction. So I was about seven, Ginny and Luna were the same age, so they were both six at the time. I don't remember what they were talking about; I think I was trying to beat Bill at chess or something, which I can tell you, I was doing a damn fine job of, thank you very much." Ron smirked at the fond memory, causing Hermione to smile warmly back at him as he continued, "So the girls were playing with their dolls and the twins were trying to taunt them, and somehow one of them, Fred maybe, dared Luna to come up to me and kiss me. She didn't even hesitate, and I could vague recall Ginny making gagging noises in the background, then while I was trying to make my next move on the chessboard I feel a pair of hands on my face and Luna yanked me down and gave me the sloppiest kiss imaginable. I swear I remember spending the entire day running around the house shouting about witch germs and how they were going to eat me alive – you see, the twins were kind enough to tell me that if a witch touched me and wasn't family, I would die if witch germs – lovely prats they are. I don't think Luna took it too well, but I'm sure she got over it by now. So yeah, that was my first and only kiss." Ron finished and chuckled, now realizing how stupid the entire charade really was. Hermione was eyeing him shrewdly again.

"Hmm, that explains... well never mind. So that's all you've had, a sloppy kiss when you were seven? Alright, then, I feel obligated to tell mine. Do you want me to?" She looked very nervous, and Ron could figure out why with ease.

"It was Vicky, wasn't it?" His worst fear confirmed. Hermione looked at her lap, biting her lip anxiously and nodded, avoiding his glower at all costs.

"Back in fourth year, obviously," Hermione began with a small and quivering voice, "After the second task of the Tournament, after he asked me to... well, anyway. One night I was doing homework and you and Harry were up in the dormitories not wanting to do any work at all, as usual. Viktor was there, looking up things for the final task or to just better prepare himself, and he was studying with me, since we were already friends at the time and we were both alone. We just studied and talked randomly, then when the library closed, we parted ways, but before he said goodnight, he, er... well, you know." She finished in a whispered and winced when she heard Ron grunt roughly, and she knew full well he was trying to keep all his anger in.

"Would it be too much to ask or too rude to ask for details?" Ron was still glowering at her, and she finally looked up at him and whispered back, "It would be rude, yes, but I know what you're thinking, and I'll tell you now that we didn't snog outside of the library or anywhere else for that matter. I can safely say that of the three of us, Harry is the one with the most experience, with him snogging Cho and all. It was nothing more than a chaste kiss and it only happened once. It was awkward for me, so I didn't really want it to go any further anyway. So that was my first and only, yes."

"Neither one of us are too good at this kissing thing, are we?" Ron mused; feeling somewhat comforted knowing that Hermione and Krum hadn't gone as far as his horribly overactive imagination feared they would.

"Maybe the two of us should just give up on it altogether, hmm? We've both had awful experiences with it, and I somehow don't see it getting any better." Hermione smiled back at Ron, who grinned back at her and ran his hand through his hair again, this time from apprehension.

"We're hopeless causes, we are. Dunno how I'm going to get married if I can't even kiss a girl. Tragedy, really, and Mum really would have loved to set up a big wedding, too." Ron was too busy trying to amuse the two of them so he never felt Hermione shift on the bed, and as he was leaning his head on the headboard with his eyes closed, he couldn't see that Hermione's face was now inches from his own.

"Shut up." As Ron tried to figure out what Hermione meant, he opened his eyes a moment, just enough time to see Hermione lean her face into his. He instantly felt a pair of lips pressed timidly against his own. He could feel a pair of hands cupping his face, trying to get a better to kiss him at. His eyes were still wide open in shock, but the moment he felt her lips move against him, he closed his eyes, never feeling so happy in his entire life.

Ron moved his hands from his lap and moved them to Hermione's sides, pushing her closer to him as he sat upright to get a better angle of her lips and to not injure his neck. Slightly nervous because of his inexperience, he began to move his lips in time with Hermione's, which, in his opinion, felt like pure heaven to him. Although they were slightly smaller and narrower than his own, Hermione's lips still pressed on, challenging Ron to kiss her back with equal fervor. So engulfed in this, they never noticed the door open behind them.

"Ahem." Ron and Hermione flew apart from each other, Ron moving to one end of Ginny's bed and Hermione jumping back on her own bed, trying to straighten her hair and cover her face, which she knew was as bright red as Ron's. He looked up and groaned in embarrassment as Remus Lupin, with a sniggering Sirius Black behind him, were standing at the door of the room.

"Don't tell anyone!" Were the first words that spilled out of Ron's mouth. Sirius doubled over in laughter, clutching Remus's shoulder to stay standing as Remus smirked back at them knowingly. Ron frowned and Hermione whimpered, completely mortified of being caught snogging her best friend by her former professor and Harry's godfather.

"We won't tell anyone, will we, Sirius?" Remus looked back at Sirius, who was trying, and failing, to compose himself, but Sirius sputtered out between his mirth that he wouldn't tell a soul, and they assumed Ron and Hermione specifically meant Harry, and Remus agreed. Ron smiled back weakly, still rather pink in the face, and gathered himself off the bed, fixing his shirt, and staring defiantly back at the two still standing at the door.

"Your mother wanted you two to come down for dinner, is all. Harry was wondering where you went off to as well, but Sirius had to odd suspicion that you two might want to be alone, and I daresay he was correct. You're lucky we came looking for you and not Harry, or worse, your brothers." Remus arched an eyebrow at Ron, who paled as he thought of how Fred and George would take the news of him snogging Hermione. Hermione looked up at Remus and Sirius, glaring at Sirius, who was still giggling a bit, got off the bed and walked past them towards the hallway. She gave one fleeting look to Ron, smiling shyly at him, and walked out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

The three of them watched Hermione leave, and Remus and Sirius looked back at Ron expectantly. The two Marauders gave each other a look, then Sirius looked back to Ron and said as he tried his best to conceal a smile, "Ron, have you had 'the talk' yet? Because after seeing this, I think, as concerned adults that care about your well-being as well as Hermione's, we should warn you about what you should and shouldn't do at your age, and certain – ah – feelings you might be feeling now."

Ron's eyes widened in horror, and he dashed out of the room and down the stairs, not even caring if he made a loud enough ruckus to wake up Mrs. Black, which no doubt Remus and Sirius had done as they fell to the ground outside of the girls' bedroom, their hysterical laughter echoing throughout the house.

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